Vienna: Art and Design

National Gallery of Victoria•www.ngv.vic.gov.au

A little over 100 years ago in Vienna, Austria, a group of radical young creators and thinkers overturned all the rules and created a brave new world. This exhibition explores this extraordinary period, bringing together some 300 works by the greatest Viennese artists of the early twentieth century. Vienna: Art and Design, 18 Jun 2011 - 09 Oct 2011 NGV International 180 St Kilda Road

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Episodes

Stop 1: Old Vienna

Graham Abbott begins by exploring an incredibly dynamic moment in history: Vienna, at the start of the twentieth-century. The revolutionary spirit of reform of the late 1800’s lead to great feats of urban planning, modern engineering and architecture.

Jul 06, 2011•5 min

Stop 2: In the Beginning

Here we are introduced to Karl Lueger, Vienna’s Mayor from 1893 to 1910. Lueger’s tenure as Mayor incorporated many successes including the appointment of talents, such as Otto Wagner, to design innovative new buildings for the new metropolis.

Jul 06, 2011•2 min

Stop 3: Postal Savings Bank

The Postal Savings Bank of 1903 was the ultimate manifestation of Otto Wagner’s functional and aesthetic principles and one of Vienna’s most significant examples of early modern architecture.

Jul 06, 2011•3 min

Stop 4: Otto Wagner

In the late 1890’s Otto Wagner announced a new way forward for modern architecture and design. Here we take a look at a reconstruction of Wagner’s extraordinary façade for the telegraphic offices of Die Zeit.

Jul 06, 2011•2 min

Stop 5: International Influences

The Vienna Secession was established in 1897 by a group of discontented young artists, designers and architects who set out to explore art unencumbered by the constraints of the academic system.

Jul 06, 2011•5 min

Stop 6: Beethoven Frieze

To honour the occasion of the 75th anniversary of Beethoven’s death, in 1902 the Vienna Seccession held a great exhibition. This memorable event exemplifies the underlining vision of the group: the concept of gesamtkunstwerk, the total work of art.

Jul 06, 2011•6 min

Stop 7: The Modern Interior

Here we discover the influence that many young avant-garde designers of the Secession had on Vienna’s wealthy bourgeoisie and the means by which individual identity, within Viennese culture, could find expression.

Jul 06, 2011•2 min

Stop 8: Emily Flöge

Graham Abbott finally introduces us to Gustav Klimt’s glorious portrait of the confident and radiant Emilie. Emilie Flöge was a highly successful clothing design and Gustav Klimt’s lifelong companion.

Jul 06, 2011•5 min

Stop 9: Freud and Sexuality

Here we explore the significance of human sexuality through the art of Gustav Klimt and one of Vienna’s most formidable thinkers of the time, the scientist and psychologist Sigmund Freud.

Jul 06, 2011•2 min

Stop 10: Viennese Composers

Here we meet the gifted Arnold Schoenberg whose talents encompassed music, painting, teaching and writing. Schoenberg’s revolutionary contribution to music is the invention of the twelve-tone scale, which transformed twentieth century music.

Jul 06, 2011•3 min

Stop 11: Egon Schiele

Here we explore the self-absorbed art of Egon Schiele. We look at why his drawings are considered the direct expression of his own mental and emotional states and what led to his arrest in 1912.

Jul 06, 2011•3 min

Stop 12: Fritza Reidler

As we explore this sumptuous portrait of Fritza Riedler, we delve further into the work of Gustav Klimt, his pursuit of the feminine motif, and his reputation as a ‘ladies’ man’

Jul 06, 2011•3 min

Stop 13: The Wiener Werkstätte

The Wiener Werkstätte – or ‘Vienna Workshop’ – was a craft workshop set up by members of the Secession. Here we look at the formation of this highly influential group of designers and one of their most ambitious endeavors, to design, build and fit out the Stoclet Palace.

Jul 06, 2011•4 min

Stop 14: Cabaret Fledermaus

The Viennese love their Cafés. At the beginning of the 20th Century there were about 600 Viennese coffee houses. And 1907 saw the modernization of another Viennese passion, the cabaret.

Jul 06, 2011•3 min

Stop 15: The Gallia Family

Here we discover the story behind the best private collection of art and design ever to escape Nazi Austria.

Jul 06, 2011•4 min

Stop 16: Adolf Loos

The architect Adolf Loos was also forging a path into the modern age, but his philosophy was utterly opposed to that of the Secession designers. Here we take a look at these two philosophical approaches to modern design at the turn of the 20th Century.

Jul 06, 2011•2 min

Stop 17: The Last Years

The year 1918 marks the end of Vienna’s remarkable artistic and intellectual flowering and saw the death of Vienna’s four major artisits: Klimt, Wagner, Moser and Schiele.

Jul 06, 2011•8 min

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